The new chief watchdog for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission told lawmakers Monday he plans to right the embattled department by going after fraud and waste outside and inside the $37 billion state social services empire.

A Democratic state lawmaker on Monday kicked off efforts to force a discussion about climate change in Texas, but he faces an uphill battle in a state where most Republican leaders don't believe it is a problem.

The first University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll of 2015 had good news for likely White House hopefuls Scott Walker and Hillary Clinton — so we’re kicking off this week’s playlist with George Jones singing “The Race Is On."

In the latest effort by conservatives to fight what they see as overreach by the United Nations, two Texas Republican lawmakers have filed legislation aimed at a nonbinding plan for sustainable development that the United States and more than 100 other countries signed in 1992.

As the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas rebuilds its image after a scandal tied to grant awards, its leaders face a new generation of conservative lawmakers who are questioning whether the state should be in the cancer-fighting business.

Hell hath no fury like a Senate scorned, the head of the Texas Racing Commission found Wednesday when he tried to make peace with the Senate Finance Committee. The commission ignored lawmakers on a key racing vote, and its budget remains zeroed out.

Property taxes clearly have the attention of Texas voters, and not in a positive way, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And they are not particularly happy with business taxes, either.

State Sen. Joan Huffman acknowledges that a lobby firm with ties to casino interests helped her draft a GOP caucus letter blasting a proposal to allow expanded gambling at horse tracks. Now a major proponent of the tracks is crying foul.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte on February 24th, 2015, her last day as Texas Senator

After 24 years in the Legislature and a failed campaign for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte bid an emotional farewell to her colleagues on Tuesday. She now faces a crowded field in the race to be San Antonio mayor.

Ted Cruz's wide lead over other contenders for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Texas has disappeared; he is now in a virtual tie with the surging Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

District Court Judge John Dietz of Austin is shown in his courtroom on Feb. 4, 2013, before he ruled that the state's school finance system was unconstitutional.

Retired state District Judge John Dietz, who found the Texas school finance system unconstitutional last year, told teachers Sunday that Texas is "dooming a generation" of children. The Legislature, not the courts, should fix the problems, he said.

On this week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics, talk turns to some state Republicans' rhetoric after recent gay marriage and immigration rulings — will their celebrations now make them seem out of touch in the future?

Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, then a state representative, at a committee hearing on May 12, 2014.

One day after an Austin lesbian couple obtained a marriage license from the Travis County clerk, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, says he wants to move the distribution of marriage licenses to the Texas secretary of state’s office.